Engineering a Grapevine Pruning Training Tool for Use in Educational and Professional Environments

This report documents the design of a field-safe and portable tool that helps field hands identify how many wine grape nodes to prune per cane. This practice allows for a more bountiful harvest. The device indicates to the worker whether to leave one, two, or three nodes on a cane. The device is attachable to a set of industry-standard shears to allow for efficient and cost-effective pruning. The device add-on can withstand a typical 8-hour workday and is able to be used in bright sun, clouds, and rain. Additionally, the device is able to differentiate between small, medium, and large canes to produce a real-time recommendation of the number of nodes to leave